Friday, April 30, 2010

Sony Sued Over Playstation 'Other OS' Removal

A Californian Playstation 3 user has filed a class action lawsuit against Sony over removal of the Install Other OS function.

Anthony Ventura filed the suit at the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on April 27th.

The action - which is being fought by law firm Meiselman, Denlea, Packman, Carton and Eberz - seeks to redress Sony's "intentional disablement of the valuable functionalities originally advertised as available with the Sony Playstation 3 video game console."

The suit claims that the disablement breaches the sales contract between Sony and its customers and constitutes "an unfair and deceptive business practices perpetrated on millions of unsuspecting customers".

The company has apologised for the removal of the Other OS function but says that the action was essential to prevent piracy.

Sony is currently trying to hide behind its End User Licence Agreement (EULA) in the stunningly arrogant belief that a digital contract signed with an on-screen button press (more often than not by a child) can supercede the law.

At least one user has received a partial refund from Amazon after complaining that his PS3 console no longer did what it was orginally intended to do. Sony has since said that it will not reimburse retailers if they choose to offer refunds.

We are aware of at least one other New York law firm which is currently preparing a class action suit against the Japanese electronics company and its international subsidiaries.